sting

[ sting ]

/ stɪŋ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sting ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), stung or (Obsolete) stang; stung; sting·ing.

to prick or wound with a sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organ.

to affect painfully or irritatingly as a result of contact, as certain plants do: to be stung by nettles.

to cause to smart or to cause a sharp pain: The blowing sand stung his eyes.

to cause mental or moral anguish: to be stung with remorse.

to goad or drive, as by sharp irritation.

Slang. to cheat or take advantage of, especially to overcharge; soak.

verb (used without object), stung or (Obsolete) stang; stung; sting·ing.

to use, have, or wound with a sting, as bees.

to cause a sharp, smarting pain, as some plants, an acrid liquid or gas, or a slap or hit.

to cause acute mental pain or irritation, as annoying thoughts or one's conscience: The memory of that insult still stings.

to feel acute mental pain or irritation: He was stinging from the blow to his pride.

to feel a smarting pain, as from a blow or the sting of an insect.

noun

an act or an instance of stinging.

a wound, pain, or smart caused by stinging.

any sharp physical or mental wound, hurt, or pain.

anything or an element in anything that wounds, pains, or irritates: to feel the sting of defeat; Death, where is thy sting?

capacity to wound or pain: Satire has a sting.

a sharp stimulus or incitement: driven by the sting of jealousy; the sting of ambition.

Botany. a glandular hair on certain plants, as nettles, that emits an irritating fluid.

Zoology. any of various sharp-pointed, often venom-bearing organs of insects and other animals capable of inflicting painful or dangerous wounds.

Slang.

confidence game.
an ostensibly illegal operation, as the buying of stolen goods or the bribing of public officials, used by undercover investigators to collect evidence of wrongdoing.

Nearby words

Origin of sting

before 900; (v.) Middle English stingen, Old English stingan to pierce; cognate with Old Norse stinga to pierce, Gothic -stangan (in usstangan to pull out); (noun) Middle English sting(e), Old English: act of stinging, derivative of the v.

Related forms

sting·ing·ly, adverbsting·less, adjectiveout·sting, verb (used with object), out·stung, out·sting·ing.re·sting, verb, re·stung, re·sting·ing.

un·sting·ing, adjectiveun·sting·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sting

Sting took over the lead role to try to draw an audience, but his thumpingly inspirational score was already the hero of the show.
Hedwig, Hugh & Michael Cera: 12 Powerhouse Theater Performances of 2014|Janice Kaplan|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And unless Republicans start pursuing very different priorities in Congress, that prognosis could sting.
GOP Senate Can't Resist a ‘War on Women’|Sally Kohn|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now Sting gets his turn, with this musical that he based on his own experiences growing up near a shipyard.
Fall Broadway Preview: 'This Is Our Youth,' Bradley Cooper as ‘The Elephant Man,' and More|Janice Kaplan|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Strangely, he did this by diluting the sting of the ant scene.
Whit Stillman on the 20th Anniversary of ‘Barcelona’, His New Amazon Series, and the Myth of the Ugly Expat|Michael Weiss|August 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Note to Sting: An “albatross” in this context is more like “tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt.”
Sting and Hillary Are Just Like You: How the Very Rich Play at Being Very Ordinary|Tim Teeman|June 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All separations have their sting, but sharp indeed was the sting in a case like this.
Japanese Literature|Various
But she nearly repented, she says, when she heard of the bees, lest they should sting.
It Never Can Happen Again|William De Morgan
He had never once mentioned her husband's name, fearing to scare her, or to sting her pride.
Petticoat Rule|Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
They were apt to slip away from him in this case and sting him unmercifully with bullets.
The Strength of the Pines|Edison Marshall
I now see that the sting inflicted by vice must and will remain!
The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, January 1844|Various

British Dictionary definitions for sting

sting

/ (stɪŋ) /

verb stings, stinging or stung

(of certain animals and plants) to inflict a wound on (an organism) by the injection of poison

to feel or cause to feel a sharp mental or physical pain

(tr) to goad or incite (esp in the phrase sting into action)

(tr) informal to cheat, esp by overcharging

noun

a skin wound caused by the poison injected by certain insects or plants

pain caused by or as if by the sting of a plant or animal

a mental pain or panga sting of conscience

a sharp pointed organ, such as the ovipositor of a wasp, by which poison can be injected into the prey

the ability to stinga sharp sting in his criticism

something as painful or swift of action as a stingthe sting of death

a sharp stimulus or incitement

botany another name for stinging hair

slang a swindle or fraud

slang a trap set up by the police to entice a person to commit a crime and thereby produce evidence

sting in the tail an unexpected and unpleasant ending

Derived Formsstinging, adjectivestingingly, adverbstingingness, noun

Word Origin for sting

Old English stingan; related to Old Norse stinga to pierce, Gothic usstangan to pluck out, Greek stakhus ear of corn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sting

sting

Old English stingan "to prick with a small point" (of weapons, insects, plants, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *stenganan (cf. Old Norse stinga, Old High German stungen "to prick," Gothic us-stagg "to prick out," Old High German stanga, German stange "pole, perch," German stengel "stalk, stem"), from PIE *stengh-, nasalized form of root *stegh- "to prick, sting" (cf. Old English stagga "stag," Greek stokhos "pointed stake"). Specialized to insects late 15c. Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" is from 1812.

sting

Old English stincg, steng "act of stinging, stinging pain," from the root of sting (v.). Meaning "carefully planned theft or robbery" is attested from 1930; sense of "police undercover entrapment" first attested 1975.

Medicine definitions for sting

sting

[ stĭng ]

v.

To pierce or wound painfully with or as if with a sharp-pointed structure or organ, as that of certain insects.

To introduce venom by stinging.

To cause to feel a sharp smarting pain by or as if by pricking with a sharp point.

n.

The act of stinging.

The wound or pain caused by or as if by stinging.

The venom apparatus of a stinging organism.

Idioms and Phrases with sting

sting

see take the sting out of.

sting

verb (used with object), stung or (Obsolete) stang; stung; sting·ing.

verb (used without object), stung or (Obsolete) stang; stung; sting·ing.

noun

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Origin of sting

Examples from the Web for sting

sting

verb stings, stinging or stung

noun

Word Origin for sting

sting

sting

sting

v.

n.

sting